Ciara Dunlea

Professor Reilley
EDUC 359
5.15.2015
Live Lesson Reflection
Megan and I taught Jack about South America and the countries of Ecuador, Columbia,
and Venezuela. I felt like our lesson went well. Our first content objective for the lesson was that
Jack would be able to explain the effects of natural disasters in Colombia. To meet this objective,
we showed Jack pictures of the volcanoes in Columbia and talked about what a volcano is. We
then asked Jack what he thought would happen if a volcano erupted. We had him share his
predictions and then explained what would happen if a volcano did happen. Jacks predictions
were correct and he showed us that he truly understood what a volcano was. I think that we did
meet this objective as Jack was able to explain what a volcano is and what happens when a
volcano erupts. The second content objective for our lesson was that Jack would be able to
compare and contrast the economies of Ecuador to the U.S. To meet this objective, Megan and I
guided Jack through reading a passage about the economies of the two countries and Jack
completed a Venn Diagram showing the similarities and differences of the two countries. Using
the passage as support, Jack had no difficulty completing the Venn Diagram and demonstrated
that we meet the language objective of the lesson which was that Jack would be able to
accurately complete a Venn diagram about the economy in Ecuador and the economy in the U.S.
after reading the passages. I felt that section of the lesson on comparing the economies of
Ecuador and the United States was a bit too difficult. I realized that some of the vocabulary

would be hard for a fourth grader to understand but Megan and I did a good job of explaining the
vocabulary to the student as we were reading the passage. Also, during the passage, Megan and I
started off by having Jack read the passage aloud. I realized that, if he was really an ELL student,
he may not have been able to read the passage aloud and his affective filter would have risen.
Our final content objective for the lesson was that Jack would be able to identify key
characteristics about culture and politics in Venezuela. To meet this objective, we discussed who
the President of Venezuela was and what he did. Jack proved that we meet this objective because
he was able to the name some of the responsibilities of the president.
I think that the goal of challenging the students language and vocabulary development
was accomplished. Jack was given many opportunities to use the new vocabulary and make
connections between what he knew and the new vocabulary words. Jack learned new
vocabulary, defined the vocabulary in his own words, and was able to use the vocabulary
throughout the lesson.
While I felt the lesson went well, Jack had difficulty with the quiz that we used as a form
of assessment at the end of our lesson. As we were doing the lesson, I realized that it might have
been better to focus on one of the countries instead of all three. Jack had difficulty remembering
the names and features of all of the countries we were teaching. If we focused on one country,
students would be able to better remember the information more as there would be less
information.
If I was to teach this lesson again with a student who basic understanding of the English
language and lacks foundation of content knowledge, I would make sure to go slower and make
sure that the students understood all of the vocabulary. Because Jack was able to understand all

of the vocabulary we were using, Megan and I were able to move faster than we would with an
ELL student. I would also change the way that we did the economic comparison between
Ecuador and the United States. I would have partnered students up to read the passage, call on
volunteers to read the passage, or give the ELL student more support while reading the passage
so that I could keep the students affective filter low.